Miriam and Roger - Approach via Petwoth, go north through town and leave A 283 by turning right (east) on A 272, go for 2.5 miles then turn right up narrow lane signed Bedham

Flexham Park Wakestone Lane

TQ013227

A light drizzle of both rain and hashers was in evidence as we
gathered at the side of a narrow lane on the edge of our normal
stamping ground. Welcome visitors Malibog and his gang, Red Horse,
Bugs Bunny, Spike and Cat Woman from Stockholm reduced the average
age of the pack somewhat and Flash's grandson Thomas reduced it
further. Unfortunately the average age was returned to normal by
Hairbrush who had decided on an outing. Called to order, and missing
Old (Un)Faithful we were fed no lies by the hares before sauntering
out into the lush green damp mossy forest.

It's no good for me to try and describe the route that we took, this
area has little in the way of landmarks and is heavily forested,
perfect for hashing of course. Hardly had we reached the first check
when a better late than never team of Bika, Hash Angel and Kermit
caught up but then Kermit turned back because he had developed a
stitch. Then after about the fourth check, better even later than
never, Mussolini caught us up .. but I dont think he was carrying the
Hash-It ... I might be wrong. Dr Blood was behaving more strangely
than usual, at first I though that he was waving at someone, he had
his hand in the air rather like a child in class asking to be
excused. It turns out that this was the only way he could get his
GPS thingy to receive the satellite signals.

By the sixth check or thereabouts it was clear that we were heading
in a anticlockwise loop as we reached a part of the park bounded by
the A272 and traffic which could be heard before heading west and
back into the gentler sounds of birdsong, raindrops, and hash natter.
Spiderman's hip was beginning to feel the pace so much so that by
about the ninth check he had fashioned a walking stick from nature's
bounty and was using it both for support and to part the tall ferns,
rather like a Hash Moses parting the Green Sea. At the other end of
the scale, the younger hounds were realy bounding along, especialy
Bugs Bunny who lead the pack on several occasions.

We had about three impromptu regroups, and a difficult time finding
the true trail at the third from last check (which was a sneaky back
check) before finding the On-In and suddenly realising where we were,
after having been out for 72 minutes. After thanking Doc and
The Chamois for what was a great outing on unfamiliar ground, the
JM could not come up with cases of misbehaviour, so resorted to
nepotism by mentioning that his grandson Thomas had just come second
the British swimming championships, before awarding the Hash-It
to Bugs Bunny because it will be her sixteenth birthday next week.

We then retired to The Well Diggers where the only dry place we
could find to sit was along the top of a wall in the garden.